Creativity

Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!

— Dr. Seuss

The other day I was reading a blog post about the word “creative.” The noun version. The job title. In advertising, the creatives are the designers, the copywriters, the photographers.

The post talked about how it’s sort of a misnomer. There’s not one group of people who are implicitly creative and one group who isn’t. The example used was a single parent taking care of their children, working two jobs. There’s a lot of creativity involved making that schedule work, making that money stretch.

I remember my mom making dinner when I was younger. I used to be a pretty picky eater. My sister is a vegetarian. My dad, a red-blooded carnivore. That makes for some very interesting meals, but it always seemed to work out.

The biggest lesson in creativity I got was in college, one of my professors gave us a project. We had to write down 100 ways to describe what a coffee mug can symbolize. It’s pretty easy to come up with 10 or 20. Waking up, #1 Dad, breakfast. What’s harder is the other 80. Sharing. Routine. Catching up with friends. The first ideas are the easy answers. The last ones are the interesting answers.

To me, creativity is thinking through a problem and finding the best solution. You don’t have to be some sort of artist to be creative. Everyone is creative in their own way.